Communication networks are well known in the art. Multiple nodes may be incorporated into a common communication system for the purposes of exchanging data of various kinds. Such networks may exist for myriad purposes and incorporate anywhere from two nodes to thousands or millions of nodes. Communication media for the network may include physical connections, such as electronic wires and fiber optic cables, to wireless communications according to various standards.
Many such networks are relatively static in location and composition. Even when some nodes may physically move about and enter and leave the network, the variation in the network may be relatively slow in comparison to the speed of the network and the rate at which the network reasonably manages the nodes which comprise the network. Thus, many conventionally wired networks, as well as many networks which are wireless or which incorporate wireless communications links, do not pose unreasonable challenges in maintaining the integrity of the network even when nodes move about and enter and leave the network. Such networks may, as a consequence, maintain relative control over the membership of the network. This control may allow the network to be made relatively secure against threats such as eavesdropping and direct attack.
By contrast, relatively large networks with relatively mobile nodes may create management and security challenges. If nodes are moving and entering and leaving the network then the frequency of network management activities may increase. Moreover, in networks where security is of relatively high importance, maintaining adequate security in spite of nodes moving in and out of the network may become challenging. If new nodes join the network then the nodes need to be incorporated into the security system without compromising the security system. While if a node leaves the network then the node may still have details of the security system of the network which may fall into the possession of malicious actors. Networks operated by military or defense entities may be particularly prone to such challenges.
Furthermore, in organizations with a strong hierarchical organization may incorporate sub-networks or groups within a larger network. In such networks, while each group may be semi-autonomous, the wider network may tend to impart control functions over the entire network. In so doing, nodes of the network as a whole may be enabled to communicate with nodes both inside and outside of the particular node's group. However, such systems create further challenges with respect to communicating from the central network to subordinate groups. In particular, in a large network, serial communications may require excessive amounts of time, while multicast communications poses security issues in a secure network, namely that the multicast broadcasting of security management-related messages may tend to make the security system of the network subject to interception and compromise.
Historically, a central hub node has provided a source for the distribution of security infrastructure, such as encryption keys. These security keys have been distributed to coordinating nodes for the groups in the network, which then relay the security infrastructure to the subordinate nodes in the group. If the network links become unreliable for any reason, this distributed relay structure may result in some nodes of the network having out of date security structures, effectively placing them outside of the useful scope of the network. Moreover, the relay structure may result in repeated decryption and re-encryption iterations in order to provide communications between the hub node and the various other nodes of the network.